


Shallow Light

by EatSnowAndDie



Category: Assassin's Creed Rogue
Genre: Brutalizing, Clothes tearing, Desperation, Gang Biting, Gen, Pain and Fear, Screaming, Shay is Bound, Vampire Turning, Vampires, Violence and Blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-25 07:30:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9809390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EatSnowAndDie/pseuds/EatSnowAndDie
Summary: He was young, ambitious, and clueless. A boy, ready to make his mark and become something great. He didn't know that what they intended to make him, was something so much more...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MyDaedricGravemind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyDaedricGravemind/gifts).



> Hope this makes your day. <3 Happy Birthday, MDGM! :')

~ 

He couldn't believe what was happening, why it was happening! His friends, his mentors his god-damned family had been lying to him all along. _'Its your destiny, Shay,'_ they preached to him for all those years-- pouring endless hopes of a promising future coated in stable guidelines and at the same time, freedom. He had only wanted somewhere to belong and he thought, of all people, the one who's words he could trust the most would be Liam's. Liam had brought him in--introduced and instructed him into the ways of the brotherhood so he could finally have a home, a family, a future. But that future of their's was not what Shay had in mind. His idea didn't consist of leaching off the very throats of those he was sworn to protect, sucking life, sucking blood. That, is what was required upon initiation; that is what they had told him. _'Shay, you won't understand, not yet, not until you have experienced fully the potential of your power; it grows and matures...like you.'_

Shay struggled against his bonds which held him in place in the darkness of the Davenport cellar, stored like food until needed. The idea sickened him. Sure, no one had deliberately compared him to supper but that is how he felt. All along they had kept a pretty blind over his eyes, playing in his ignorance thinking they could one day twist him as easily as they did Liam. Shay remembered how Liam told him of the others, the so-called assassins, that they were something else, something different, something powerful and deadly. That it was exactly what the world needed to be protected.  
  
_'Shay, please, if you just listen to me, we aren't evil-'_

_'We?' Shay scoffed in the memory. 'You sound like you've let yourself become quite the school boy, Liam.'_

_'Will you stop acting like a child for once, Shay? We care about you.'_

_'Oh, do you now? How can you care about any normal blood when you're the one's sneaking around feeding off innocents?!'_

_'Its not like that, Shay!'_

_'Yes it is, I've seen it. Achilles, Chevalié, Hope, all of them- killing to stay alive. How does that make sense? How can you save lives by taking them? Do you expect me to bind myself to to a code that forces you to becoming something thats not even human anymore?!'_

_'Shay,' Liam layed a hand on his brother's shoulder. 'Sometimes a little compromise is required.'_

_Shay pulled away immediately but Liam continued. 'We have bound ourselves in sacrifice for others. Humans...they won't understand, they can't understand.'_

_'Humans, like me..?'_

_Liam looked the younger square in the eye, his new nature plain for the other to see. His eyes, glinting with an unnatural scarlet and skin color faded yet smooth as stone. His brother, the one man Shay ever leaned on, clinged to and loved like family had abandoned all principle, all dignity, and joined this cult of blood suckers. It was a fate he had felt befitting for himself and perhaps even his younger, which had been his intention all along. The assassins were ever in need of initiates and Shay had been believed to be a choice outstanding among the rest, and so there had been hopes he would comply; after all he had been taught, all he had learned and absorbed. All that was left was the turning, the change which was required of new bloods to be permanently accepted into the creed. He ultimately had no choice in this, it was decided for him, and by his dying breath they would see him ushered into their ranks...or die._

And so here he was restrained beyond hope but only his body. His will, however, was as free, determined and unrelenting as ever. He would not see see himself turned cold and dead to live off the people he protected. If he was destined to die, he would end in a grave. But his heart told him through the pounding in his ears, it was not his time to go just yet.

Shay's head jerked up out of his inner thoughts as the cellar door opens from the outside and boots knocked against the old wooden stairs descending toward him. They were not heavy steps, no, but lighter and the heel carried a distict 'clack' unbefitting for a male boot. Emerging from the shadows, which were casted sharply on the dirt floor by the bright moonlight by the open celler door, was Hope. The night had brought her to him for reasons he figured she would all too willingly share with him, come the time to know. She wore her usual training uniform and an unreadable expression as she strode closer to him, she crouched before the young man before she spoke. Her voice thick with pride, sweetly coated in poison honey.

"Shay." she breathed, touching his sweat covered forhead gently. It didn't stop the him from jerking away, no matter how gentle.

"What do you want, Hope?"

She smiled. "Oh, Shay. You still haven't changed. Even in these circumstances, I thought you wouldn've saw a chance for yourself to become something more than what you were."

"And what's that exactly? A blood sucker?"

"Vampires," she corrected him, "-are guardians of life. We protect those who cannot protect themselves."

"You kill people, Hope! Innocent people!" he fought his bonds. "You need to feed. You, blood thirsty monsters don't understand that you're doing exactly what you swear to protect others from."

"It's different." she raised her hands to ease his worries. "We don't feed off the 'good people', just the evil ones."

"The ones you assassinate?"

She chuckled pleasantly in her throat. A sleek smile slicing through her pale face as she stood. Shay had always beheld her to be one of the prettiest girls of his acquaintance and the smartest. She had proved time and time again in and even out of training to be a very intelligent and skilled woman, capable of defeating the strongest man. Normally this would be a comfort to Shay. To know that he would always have an ally to help and guide him, trouble that he was. But her sly tongue, quick step, and leathal blade were of no comfort to him now. No, she was not the person he thought she was. She was not his friend, but a killer. They all were.

"Soon, Shay. Soon you will understand what it truly means to make a difference in this world."

"Never." his eyes grew hard and cold. "I'll never be one of you."

She smiled again, and with inhuman speed her mouth reached his ear in a whisper so close that her breath chilled his skin.

"Yes, you will."

~

The hour was midnight, it was cool, dark, and silent in the celler. No one had come to visit him since Hope left and that was a day ago. Shay didn't know for certain when they planned to revisit, he just knew he had to escape, and soon. He knew what they were planning, what they had planned all along. He was not about to just sit here and wait to be turned like some rat in a cage. But what could he do? His bounds ran marks into his wrists as tight as they were, and he had no means to cut them. The assassins had left him with nothing of use in this humble dirt covered room. There were no fools among their ranks, and no assassin would dare leave him with an option to escape.

They knew he would try.

Shay pulled and wrenched against the leather ropes over and over again. The sweat of his brow bearing witness to his attempts at freedom.

The door unlatched.

Shay stopped and looked to find all the assassins descend into the room with unnatural silence and grace. How stupid of him to have not realized the nature of the assassins' talents sooner.

"Shay, the dirt suits you." Verendrye chuckled, humored by the cabbage farmer's state. And obviously not all that pleased with what Le Chaseur was about to say next.

"It is time, Shay." Le Chaseur stated.

"Time for what?" Asked Shay, though he had a fair idea, he hadn't a clue as to the details.

There was silence. All eyes were on the him, on Shay and he began to grow uncomfortable, which was saying alot. He was always bold but it was something about being the only human amongst them that caused a slight uneasiness to stir in him.

"Look," he tryed to sit as straight as he could despite the crippling position his bounds put him in. "You don't want to do this. You don't want me to be like you-as strong, as you. You already can't control me now, what makes you think you can control me once I'm turned?"

No one answered.

"This is not a creed.." Shay continued, "Its a cult. You can't protect people-save lives by taking them, don't you understand? Its madness!" he looked to her. "Hope?"

No answer.

"Liam?" Nothing. "Achilles?" Again, silence.

"Will nobody answer me?!"

Adéwalé finally stepped forward, as sudden as a statue turned to life.

"I understand your fear, Shay. It is only natural for you to fear the unknown. As I did once."

"This isn't some damn ordinary fear, Adéwalé, this is life or death. I will not choose to die. Not at least like this!"

Achilles inhaled deeply through his nostrils...slowly, as if morning breakfast was served at one's awakening.

"I can smell your fear." he all but rasped into the air.

They were all still as stone, stationed round about him. It was now that Shay could begin to see a gleaming red enter the color of their eyes, transforming them to bear the look of a hungry creature. He could even hear the sound of breathing growing louder by the second. All in unison.

He indeed, began to fear.

"Please, don't." Shay whispered before he heard the first and last words from his former brother, Liam.

"I'm sorry, Shay."

"Laim, don't- please!" Shay begged.

"Grab him." Adéwalé commanded, they all seized the young human at once; dragging him to his feet and practically carrying him to the stairs.

Shay began to struggle immediately.

"No! Let me go, don't do this! I'll kill you if you do! Don't do this!"

His words were nothing to them. Like a bird's chirps to it's prey. They took him to the dining room above and cast him to the floor, his shoulder and face taking a heavy beating under his weight..

The time was right that they should begin.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Hard nails dug into the flesh of Shay's shoulders, exuding blood from the wound and a cry from his lips as he was pulled to a sitting position beneath Hope. She was breathing heavily and it was only now that he could see her true hunger, and fangs.

"I'm sorry, Shay." she breathed. "It could've been so much easier for you. I only wish there was a way to make you understand." 

"His coat." ordered Achilles. 

"No, stop!" Shay protested, but it was torn from him in seconds, off his shoulders and down to his wrists where the joined limbs still lay bound. Kesegowaase gripped his shoulders from behind and forced him backward to the floor. His tied hands remaining positioned uncomfortably beneath.

 Le Chaseur bent over him and struck Shay in the face, breaking his nose and causing it to bleed. His fist wasn't the only one to deal blows; one after the other, they all began to beat and claw at him, weakening him, toying with him like a cat did a caught mouse.

Shay spat blood when they finally stopped.

"You are all _mad!"_ he weased, but he was dragged to his feet onto the dining table and flattened on his back.

"Why don't you just get it over with?" he was frustrated and afraid. Why were they playing with him like this?

"Give up, Shay." Achilles ordered.

"You pretend as though I can still fight, you cowards. What are you waiting for?" he grimaced through red stained teeth. "Getting bored with your play-thing already?"

"Look at him, Achilless." La Verendrye seemed sickened by the weakness of the human. "He isn't fit to be one of us."

"No," Adéwalé approached the young man. "He is stronger than all of us." he gripped Shay's neck from behind and breathed in the scent of his blood. "And he will be one of us."

" _Never_." the gravel in Shay's voice despite his state sent visible chills of excitment down their spines. And Adéwalé gripped only tighter.

"There is a place in this world for all of us, Shay," he spoke calmly over the beaten pathetic form laying on the table, bloodied and bruised, covered in sweat and panting.

"We may not agree with it-"

" _No_ ," Shay interjected.

"-But we cannot resist it." 

Shay knew what was coming now. He could see the hunger in his former master's eyes, hear it in his breath, and feel it in his touch as his flesh was pulled closer to Adéwalé's lips. He gripped Shay's neck tighter, squeezing hard enough to provoke a vocally winced and was returned with an immediate response of hisses from all the assassins. 

Shay hadn't ever known a fear quite like this before. The fear of being alone, the fear of the dark, of death, anything he had felt as a child or adult were fears so incomparable with what he felt now. It was a fear that only an animal should experience and not a human being. He was prey to beasts, nothing more and nothing less. They were set on doing as they chose to him, without regret, and without remorse. He held no rank, no importance to them other than the need to fulfill their own goal. They needed his skill. But they would have to break him for it. Vampire or not, they could not force him and he would see his own end than to give in to their practice.

Shay lowered his voice, as composed as he could manage. "Go ahead then. Turn me, make me what you want." he swallowed. "But I'll _never_ be like you."

Adéwalé dove toward Shay's exposed throat, digging his fangs into the young warm flesh without hesitation, savoring every drop that he drew from the wound. Shay cryed out, pain coating his voice throughout. He attempted to pull away but every movement he made seemed to open the puncture holes more, tearing his skin and causing him to bleed further. He did not care so much at this point. He just wanted to get away. But he knew he couldn't, no matter how he tryed. Struggling was no good, he wasn't strong enough and there were too many of them. He was out numbered, and by the amount of blood taken from him by Adéwalé, he was half way dead as well.

The former master, after several minutes' indulgence, dislodged his fangs and pulled out with a satisfying 'suck'. The young man's blood slick down his chin and throat. His eyes glinted red and his face smiled in pleasure.

"Come," he growled more than spoke. All human likeness but a shadow of what he was now. "Drink of the boy's blood."

" _Get back, you devils!_ -" Shay struggled pathetically before he was dragged half off the table by Le Chaseur and feasted on, then Kesegowaase, followed by La Verendrye and Hope who took either side of his neck; sucking and breathing heavily. He could hear their swallows and slurps, feel them bite deeper, and was helpless to stop himself from being dragged fully off the table unto the floor again. Hope held him possessively, arms wrapped around his chest and waist from behind, she tore at his shirt and dugg marks into his flesh. 

Shay's mind was washed white with a flurry of confused senses all fighting over his sanity. His mind screamed, 'injustice' while his body coiled in fear and pain, and his senses howled in guilty pleasure. In disgust he unleashed a verocious out cry and tried to kick at one of them, but his strength was no good and his sight less than manageable. He saw nothing but blurs enter and exit his vision and he was beginning to grow more weary by the moment.

He felt his wrists were freed from their restraints, only to be feasted on by what he figured was the mouth of Kesegowaase and...Liam.

He could hear him.

" _Liam..._ " Shay croaked, face and body covered in his own blood. " _Brother, please..."_

Tears ran down his face as no response was given. Only now did he know, rather than just feel, truly alone.

...

Time creeped slowly by, as if the hands of the grandfather clock needed a cane of his own to help move time along.

Shay didn't know when they had stopped their feeding. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness reliving the unended horrors, feeling his body become dry and hollow like a husk.

But something was different now. He could feel a change within him. It was not complete emptiness that consumed him but rather a piercing heat that replaced what could have been cold death. A fever sprung up from the depths of his body spreading through his veins and attacking his bones. And, oh, how he began to thirst.

 _"Wha-"_ he choked on a sand dry throat. _"What is this?"_ Shay outstretched his arms, or rather tried to, but he could barely lift them.

_"What is happening to me?"_

"Sh, it's all right." said a calm and soothing male voice. It bore no threat but the unfamiliarity of it was enough to frightened Shay.

He swallowed hard, throat still cracked. _"Who are you?"_

"My name is George. Colonel George Monro. I am here to help you."

Shay squinted in a scoff that pulled his tight dry skin even tighter. "I don't know any George, Mr.-" Shay coughed again and felt his neck flare up in pain. His entire body trembled and his vision throbbed red and black.

 _"What's happening to me?"_ Shay desperately demanded of the stranger, tugging at the new bonds that wrapped around his wrists separately to keep him down, though not as tight as the last and for that he was grateful. He now felt himself on a bed rather then the floor, or what felt like one. Nevertheless, his body still ached.

"You are recovering from an attack you received days ago." George told him.

 _"What?"_ Shay held no memory of an attack in his mind. All he could remember was the fear. The helplessness. Cold hands tearing their way into him, and teeth. No, fangs. _What the bloody hell had happened to him?_

_"Colonel, please tell me what is happening?"_

"I will soon, but first, you must rest. The injuries you have sustained are great."

 _"I've rested long enough."_ Shay argued. But the slow movement of his head lulling back and forth suggest otherwise, and the colonel knew it.

George placed a cool hand on the young man's feverish forhead.

"Rest. You are safe now."

Shay's body could resist no longer. Weakness over took him once again and his consciousness was pulled to slumber. He would not awake the same again...

 

 

 

 


End file.
